jayinhk, You got that right, the tea is a bit dusty. For the rinse I shake the pot a bit to help get it off. If you want to get some tart flavor(s) from the tea, you might try 85-6 degrees C & 1 1/2 - 2 minutes for Western style preparation. (I don't like gongfu for this tea.) It is nice to come home to one's tea routines.

JRS22 wrote:They sent out an email in August announcing a closing sale with no explanation. I vaguely recall a discussion here about one partner not really wanting to work at the tea business but it doesn't turn up when I search for it.

Thanks... I'd missed that. It makes sense if they weren't both heading in the same direction.

I gathered the same from my inquiry when placing my last order with them.

Today's oolong: Phoenix Dancong-Heavenly Fragrance from Peony. It does have a great smell and works well for me packed into the gaiwan, though it is a little hard to do because the leaves are very long. It reminds me of a lot of other commercial-grade dancongs and is good (not great) and not too expensive to drink whenever.

All day here, the weather casts a subdued and still presence on the day. A grey, opaque veneer covers the sky. The day is chill and the leaves on the Japanese maple near the tea deck shrivel and lose their beet red vibrancy before dropping. It's a pleasant ambiance for tea.

I pour 9 rounds of SDIQ Qing Xin wulong tea (purchased earlier this year in Taiwan) in a new Petr Novak 150ml unglazed teapot, bought recently from Darjeeling.cz's latest offering. It's my first pour with the pot. I prepare 9.5 grams of dry leaf with filtered water, a Bonavita, and glazed Petr Novak 70ml cups.

This tea is unique amongst all the Taiwan wulongs I drink. It has a slight bake/roast and carries a malty, almost maple sweet flavor over the Qing Xin vegetal base, with a subtle floral, and is not overly fruity in any way. It has forward mouth flavor and a subtle throat, with a slightly copper tone to its liquor. It's a very pleasant tea, not too astringent/rasping and both warm and comforting.

Today's pour is a gift: such rich and settled presence amidst the tea room for nine wonderful rounds. While sitting, I feel my heart beat in my whole body, slow, a beat per second to second and a half, and feel a tonifying warmth rush up my back, collect in my face,and move out through my extremities...intense, but calm rushes of chaqi. I'm not certain what factor most brings this day's rich time of presence, the weather, the stillness in the house, the tea, tea setting, the new pot, the music of Coyote Oldman playing in the tea room, the incense smoke rising...or some rich combination of it all. Either way...wonderful pour!

Today I open a new bag of Spring 2013 Lishan Wu Ling tea from Tea From Taiwan (http://www.teafromtaiwan.com/shop/loose ... vvefbn7675). The tea does not disappoint and is a rich, balanced tea. This was my first pour with this lot and I look forward to exploring it further. I pour 8 rounds in my new Petr Novak 150ml, unglazed teapot, using Petr Novak thin-med., 70ml glazed teacups. For the pour I use Shacklee filtered water heated in a Bonavita, with a starting temp. of 95 deg. C.

This tea's pearls are such aesthetically pleasing dark blue, large, irregular nuggets with a wonderful aroma at all phases of the pour (dry leaf, baked leaf, after rinse, during the pour). A very enjoyable tea I'd certainly purchase again. Checking online today I noticed the Winter harvest version is up and will look to pick some up soon. Recent teaware purchases (on their way but yet to arrive) have put a hold on tea money...but that's a good problem to have.

Overslept this morning and missed my flight to Manila, so I'm headed out tomorrow instead. Drowning my sorrows in some machine picked Ali Shan from SilentChaos (pre-Origin Tea). At the time, he said this was the lowest grade of TW oolong he'd drink. I bet that's changed since!

Brewed it in a gaiwan/teapot hybrid (basically a gaiwan with a lid, spout and handle). I prefer porcelain for green oolongs since they're all about subtlety of flavor.

This tea is green and has been in a vacuum sealed bag since I got it about a year ago. It tastes a lot like the Alishan I bought in the airport in Taipei; floral and fruit with a hint of milk. I'd say this is actually better than the airport stuff, even after all this time. I can detect cinnamon, and I smelled cigarette smoke (!) in the rinse too.

Strangely, after my little break from tea-drinking, I can detect hints of black tea in everything. Drinking some good shui xian from a local dealer from Chiuchow who sells as little as a tael (just under 38 grams) at a time. I like his shui xian better than his TGY. Herbal and vegetal, with a little cinnamon and a tiny amount of roast flavor. Definitely less roast aroma than it had six months ago. Good stuff.

Lishan Spring 2013 Wuling wulong tea from Tea From Taiwan...again, a great brew, created in my 90ml glazed kyusu from Andrzej Bero, using filtered water and a stainless Bonavita kettle. I pour the brew into some lovely white, crackle-glazed 50ml cups for 6 flavorful rounds.

Tea From Taiwan Spring 2013 Lishan Wuling wulong tea: I have now brewed this tea in multiple vessels: bowl method, glazed shiboridashi, glazed kyusu, unglazed Petr Novak teapot, etc. In all instances it has proved to be a quality tea. It does need seem to need a bit of time or heat to get its fullest elements to really emerge. While its not a shy tea it's also not instantly releasing its essence. Its a very enjoyable tea and seems, like many good teas, really difficult to overbrew/make bitter. Today I pour 8 rounds in a 150ml Petr Novak, unglazed, thin-medium walled teapot, using glazed Petr Novak tea cups, and 95 deg. C water. I kept, in my mind, comparing this to Long Feng Xia from TTC...there are, to me, some similar elements; this tea is buttery, depending on the brewing method used, and comes out fairly alive, tangy, sweet. It's a quality tea, one I'd order again.